I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 310 [6K5] Justice and Evil, Victory and Defeat
"A very good suggestion, but I refuse!"

"!"

Seeing Maye's sudden stiffness, John instead smiled, and without waiting for her to ask, he spoke directly:

"If I'm not mistaken, the two hostages you're trying to take are Ian Grant and Serbia Reinhardt, right?"

"!"

Upon hearing John reveal his true objective, Maye's pupils constricted to their limit, and her heart was filled with disbelief.

In her view, John, now a newly promoted lieutenant general in the Empire, shouldn't be so familiar with these two people.

Even if, due to unforeseen circumstances, Serbia's assassination attempt on John failed and he was captured, allowing the other side to deduce one of his targets based on the previously provided intelligence.

But the other side had no reason to know that Ian was just an ordinary second lieutenant at the time.

After all, in his memory, Ian hadn't shown any ability at all in the battle that led to the annihilation of the Third Navy, and had almost died on that battlefield.

If the other party hadn't been discovered and rescued by a fishing boat from the Kingdom of Brown and brought back to the Kingdom of Brown, then the other party might have already died in the southern ocean!
"Wait a minute, something seems off. It appears the Empire won the Battle of Faoken?"

"And the Third Navy was not destroyed; on the contrary, it miraculously achieved an unprecedented victory?"

Even if John inexplicably joined the Empire and became its commander without receiving reinforcements, given the Empire's capabilities, even if the Empire won the ground war through its outstanding command skills, the situation would still be dire.

But in naval warfare, the enemy should also be completely helpless.

unless……

"Unless the other side finds Ian, who shouldn't be showing his talent at this time, in the Third Navy, and uses his abilities in this naval battle, and obtains information about the future in advance in an almost impossible way."

Only in this way can it be explained.

Why didn't the Empire's Third Navy, which was completely outmatched by its own Fiery Sun Fleet in both the number and firepower of its warships, perish in this lopsided naval battle?

Instead, they miraculously survived and achieved a great victory!
But at the same time, this also means...

At that moment, it was as if some incredible possibility had come to mind.

Maye suddenly looked up at John, who had somehow assumed the same posture as her with his arms crossed. The figure seemed to have transcended time and space, perfectly overlapping with the one she knew best.

However, what was completely different from her memory was that the peerless general John Maslow, whom she deeply trusted and admired, was not wearing the Allied Blue Gold General Commander's uniform at this moment, but the Imperial Air Force Lieutenant General's uniform with black and gold stripes!
Immediately, in her trembling pupils, the other person slowly uttered a sentence that almost completely stunned her:

"Fox Girl, you really are as slow-witted as ever."

"!"

Looking at John, who suddenly uttered that incredibly familiar title, Mayer's expression was a complex mix of emotions.

Stunned, confused, shocked.

A variety of emotions kept flashing across her face, and the shock of discovering the truth made her lose her ability to think, and instead she was completely plunged into an unprecedented state of complexity.

"..."

John, aware of Maye's intense emotions at the moment, also refrained from speaking rashly in response to her silence.

Instead, he started drinking his coffee, giving the other person some time to process what was happening.

In fact, he hadn't planned to reveal that he had guessed the other party's rebirth so early, nor did he intend to acknowledge the other party as his own.

He originally planned to continue playing the role of an ignorant Imperial general, following Mayer's idea, and then use this to his advantage to set a trap and successfully capture Anna, the greatest threat.

But after a rapid mental search, he immediately dismissed the idea, and the reason was:
"The Special Operations Department has been established for too short a time. At present, Maye has obviously not experienced the life-and-death crisis of the department, nor has she formed a deep friendship with Anna in the sixteen operations she fought alongside her, as well as in the emotional exchanges that followed."

"Given the wisdom of Maye, who is officially described as someone who superficially inherited the intelligence and wit of the fox-man and beast-man sages, but in reality has a humorous side similar to a husky, it's clear that the other party's abrupt contact with her this time was not authorized by the department beforehand, but rather an independent action taken outside the organization."

"This also means that after leaving the mission, embarking on independent operations, and coming into contact with himself, an Imperial Lieutenant General, Mayer's loyalty has been questioned in the eyes of the Special Operations Department."

"Given Olco's personality and methods, it's possible that Meyer might also be listed as a 'defector' by the department due to his poor performance and strange behavior."

"In other words, my attempt to capture Anna, or even more of the original main characters, by relying on her had already completely failed when Maye approached me alone."

"If we continue according to the original plan, we will end up falling into the Allied forces' trap and being ambushed, and may even lose Mayer himself. We will gain nothing at all."

This was clearly a terrible decision.

Therefore, based on the above assessments, John felt that changing the bait plan to a prisoner-of-war and persuading the reborn orc sage to join the Empire was the best decision for him.

"Although this decision is more than twice as difficult as the former."

Looking at the orc sage who had finally come to his senses and whose eyes were filled with unprecedented anger, John couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Because he could almost guess what the other person was going to say next, for example:
Why did you betray everyone?

As if to confirm John's judgment, the next second, Mayer's angry questioning voice slowly rang out from the meeting room:
"John, why did you betray everyone?"

Maye glared angrily at John, her whole body trembling with rage.

After John uttered that nickname that only he would use to address her in her past life, she knew perfectly well that John, like her, had been reborn.

However, compared to the excitement of a reunion across the world.

Realizing what John was doing now, Maye felt an unprecedented anger.

But more than anything, there was confusion.

Because she simply couldn't understand why John, who had defeated the empire and saved the world with everyone in his previous life, was now in this world.

After the other person was also reborn like him, and even gained memories of their past life earlier than him.

Instead of serving the Allied forces as in the previous life, the other party joined the Empire.

In fact, the enemy has now become the Allied forces' number one enemy.

There are clearly too many oddities in this matter.

But in Mayer's view, no matter the reason, John should never have betrayed everyone.

Because, if she hadn't been reborn, given John's current actions, he would inevitably become a complete adversary of her Special Operations Department in the future.

Even a fight to the death!
The thought of facing John with swords in the future made Maye feel suffocated.

The fear of that hopeless future almost robbed her of the ability to think, leaving only one thought in her mind.

That is, to persuade John to stop this absurd behavior and get the world back on track.

Thinking of this, she suppressed all her emotions and hurriedly spoke to John:

"Although I don't know why you did this, John, since you have also been reborn, you must also know that only by returning to the Allies can you end this thousand-year-old war as a righteous hero, bring true peace to the world, and completely destroy the evil empire!"

"Just like we did in our past life, if you come back, with your wisdom and the concerted efforts of everyone in the department, we will surely be able to accomplish this great feat again, just like in our past life, won't we?"

"..."

John looked at Maye, who was pleading with him, but his expression showed no hesitation.

Instead, he gave a smile that puzzled Maye, and before Maye could ask John why he had such an expression, John slowly said:

"Mayer, do you really believe that the allies we once served were truly righteous?"

"...What do you mean by that? I don't understand."

"Literally, I just wanted to ask you what you thought about this matter, that's all."

John ignored Maye's astonished expression and instead lowered his eyes to look at the coffee cup on the table.

At that moment, sunlight streamed through the hotel windows, illuminating the conference room. The intense light shone on the coffee cups, and through refraction, reflected John's face.

Looking at his reflection in his cup, he seemed to be moved by Mayer's words and saw himself in them after choosing a completely different path.

After a brief pause, John then spoke calmly to Mayer in front of him:

"After gaining that part of my memory, my first thought was indeed to escape what I had once regarded as hellish. I made corresponding efforts for this, but I repeatedly failed, which caused the world to deviate from its course."

"And Serbia, which should not have contacted me at that time, launched an assassination attempt against me because of the changes caused by the flapping of my butterfly wings, forcing me to capture her."

"But you, with your memories of your past life, must understand me. You know that if it were just this, if it were just the danger to my life and the so-called temptation of fame and fortune, these things would not make me choose to give up."

"It wasn't until later, during the postwar governance of Bahamut, that I witnessed everything firsthand, and after those experiences, a question uncontrollably arose in my mind."

"So, were the allies I served in my past life truly righteous?"

"Wow!"

Seeing Maye's astonished expression, John slowly stood up from his chair and put his hands behind his back.

The sunlight tore through the shadows, but seemed to be blocked by some force, never reaching him.

His originally somewhat thin figure now appeared strangely enormous in Mayer's eyes. It was as if some colossal creature, invisible to the naked eye, was gradually awakening, spreading, and expanding within him.

The atmosphere, too, gradually became suffocating and heavy in this silent silence.

But this was immediately interrupted by the other party's words.

His voice was perfectly calm, yet it inexplicably gave off an indescribable sense of pressure.

It was as if Meyer was facing not a human, but the roar of a raging, enraged dragon, making her feel suffocated like never before.
"During the postwar governance of Bahamut, I saw scenes that made me try to convince and deceive myself during many sleepless nights."

"I tried to convince myself that the actions of my beloved allies, whom I had once served, in plundering civilians under the guise of resisting the Empire, were not their original intentions, but rather a desperate measure during wartime."

"I tried to convince myself that as long as I covered my ears and blindfolded myself, and did not hear or see these things, then I could deceive my conscience."

"So that, guided by those memories, I can follow the trajectory of history and let the scene of the Allied forces destroying the Empire and bringing so-called peace to the world be replayed in this world."

"But unfortunately, one cannot easily deceive oneself, especially someone like me who is selfish, cowardly, and extremely arrogant, and who cannot tolerate the existence of flaws!"

John's expression remained unchanged, but his demeanor inexplicably turned cold at that moment.

As if influenced by his will, the air in the entire room began to gradually turn icy cold, making one feel as if they had entered an ice cave, chilling them to the bone.

“In the past, because I always stayed in the Special Operations Department to participate in missions, I never saw the whole picture of things outside of the missions, nor did I know the living conditions of the people at the bottom.”

"Instead, driven by hatred for the empire and the slogan of justice, they viewed carrying out missions as a means to maintain happiness and the destruction of the empire as a goal to achieve peace."

"But after witnessing firsthand those nobles who treated the common people like livestock to be slaughtered, exploited, or used as disposable tools, and who enslaved the masses in their minds, who flaunted their bloodlines and used them as privileges to try to maintain their superior position over the masses."

"I have come to realize how absurd and ignorant my previous thoughts were!"

"Because the Allied forces are essentially no different from the Empire. They both use so-called bloodline privileges to exploit and oppress the masses, enslave more people, and seek personal gain for themselves."

"The so-called justice and evil have never existed. They are merely brainwashing speeches given by politicians to the people based on their different positions, in order to find a reasonable slogan for themselves. In essence, they are all enslaving the masses and making the uninformed civilians fight each other for their desire for power."

"In my opinion, the only difference between the two is that one side speaks Victorian and the other speaks Imperial, nothing more."

"No, that's not the case..."

Hearing this, Maye was anxious to defend herself, but looking at John's cold face, she couldn't utter a word.

Because although she had never thought about this issue carefully, it was in her memories, both in her past life and in this life.

The scenes she witnessed of numerous nobles within the Allied forces exploiting their people silently proved that John's words were true.

This left her powerless to refute the other party, and even less able to deceive them with lies.

Because she understood that doing so would have no meaning other than making John more determined to stay in the Empire.

So Maye abandoned the idea and instead took a deep breath to persuade him:
"...I admit there are some problems within the Allied forces right now, but John, we can change all of that, can't we? As long as you and I, and everyone in the Special Operations Department, work together, we can do it all!"

"I don't want to be your enemy, nor do I want to see us facing each other with swords in the future."

"So, come back, John, I'm begging you, okay?"

Looking at Maye, whose eyes were red and seemed to be pleading with him, even John couldn't help but feel a complex emotion flash in his eyes.

At this moment, countless thoughts from my time with the Allied forces were stirred in my mind.

But soon, those images were replaced by the admiring gazes of his subordinates, and his slightly hesitant heart regained its resolve. His tone was calm, yet resolute:
“I can’t go back, Maye. Whether it’s my current position, the responsibilities I bear now, or the goals I aspire to achieve in the future, everything makes it impossible for me to abandon the trust I have now, to go to the Allies as a traitor, and to strive for that false justice.”

"This is absolutely impossible!"

"!"

Upon hearing this, Mayer was immediately struck dumb, her eyes filled with disbelief.

She never imagined that she, as the other person's lover from a past life, would make such a perfectly normal request.

In the end, John rejected it without hesitation.

It was as if, compared to the other party's goal, his lover, who truly understood his feelings, had absolutely no significance to him.

This sense of disconnect between fantasy and reality caused Maye a sharp pain in her heart, and tears involuntarily streamed down her face. Her voice gradually choked, and her expression became extremely pained.

"Why... I really don't understand, I don't understand, John, why, why did you do this?"

"I... I no longer understand what you're thinking."

"Why do you insist on letting things develop in this worst possible direction? Why do you insist on staying in this evil empire?"

"Could it be that, to you, everything we experienced in our past life, the goals we achieved, the justice we served—all of that was meaningless?"

"Are you really, really still the John Maslow I know?"

"..."

However, John was not swayed by Maye's pained expression; instead, his gaze was filled with disappointment.

After a long silence, he slowly uttered a sentence that left Mayer completely bewildered:

"I have never changed, it's just that you have never seen me clearly, that's all."

"In my eyes, war has never been about justice or evil, but only about victory or defeat."

"The reason for this difference is simply because of different positions."

“In the past, I was influenced by rules and common sense, and I stubbornly believed in what I thought was justice. I went down this path to the end, but in the end, I did not make any real change.”

"And this time, I will never make the same mistake again."

"Compared to a false victory that only solves the surface problems and leaves the hidden dangers to persist, this time, what I want to achieve is a more real victory."

"A victory that will bring those so-called privileged classes to dust, allow the greatness of humanity to be fully revived, and enable ordinary people to break free from oppression and exploitation—not a hypocritical cover-up to conceal greed and desire, but a true victory!"

"And for this, I'm willing to pay any price!"

"Snapped!"

After saying that, John suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The next second, accompanied by flashes of magical light, countless deep blue magical chains appeared out of thin air in Maye's constricted pupils, instantly binding her tightly.

"John, you..."

Maye stared at John in disbelief; she never expected him to suddenly attack her.

This was clearly more unbelievable to her than John's refusal to return with her to the Allies.

"You will gradually understand why I chose the Empire instead of the Allies."

John stared indifferently at Mayer ahead. At this moment, his figure was obscured by the shadow cast by the floating curtains, making him appear as if he had been completely submerged in darkness. Combined with the cold, black and gold uniform of the Empire, he momentarily looked like a villain behind the scenes.

And with his subsequent words and actions, this sense of déjà vu became even stronger:
“But now, Maye Sistana, I’m afraid I need you to live under my surveillance as a prisoner for a period of time. I hope you can cooperate.”

Before Maye could question him about why he did this, John manipulated his magic again, using his magic eye to unleash a mental shockwave at Maye, who was glaring at him.

Under the overwhelming power of John's current superior magic familiar, Maye was knocked unconscious on the spot in just an instant by the impact.

Seeing that Maye had been completely knocked unconscious by his actions, John slowly walked up to her, then gently picked her up and carried her to the room next door, placing her on the bed.

He then contacted Bruno via communication device, asking him to bring a magic suppression device. He personally put the device on Maye and instructed Bruno to arrange for people to place Maye under house arrest and surveillance under the guise of an important informant.

After this less-than-pleasant reunion across the world, John returned to his study to sort out and process his emotions.

Just as he was about to go out for a walk to dispel the gloom in his heart and to try to lure Anna and the rest of the Special Operations Department out of their tracks by releasing the news that he had captured Maye, so that he could wipe out these old teammates in one fell swoop.

The next second, there was a slow knock on his door.

When John opened the door, he discovered that the person who had come in was none other than Bruno.

Just as he was wondering why Bruno, whom he had just ordered to monitor Maye, would suddenly come to find him, he caught a glimpse of Bruno's hesitant expression and the woman who looked like a ceremonial official following behind him.

John, who had already guessed the owner of the obsidian brooch worn by the lady-in-waiting through this iconic accessory, immediately felt a headache coming on.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

At that moment, he knew that the big trouble he had been trying to avoid had finally come knocking on his door.

As if to confirm John's guess, the next second, the smiling female etiquette officer's calm yet undeniably authoritative words slowly entered John's ears:

"General John Maslow, His Highness Princess Alafia would like to invite you to Mirror Spring Manor for a discussion. Do you have the time at the moment?"

……

(End of this chapter)